(UK) Do children need to eat meat?

[from Scotsman] PARENTS of young children, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, should be warned off strict vegetarian diets, according to the author

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, Feb 28, 2005

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[from Scotsman]

PARENTS of young children, and women who are pregnant or
breastfeeding, should be warned off strict vegetarian diets, according
to the author of a new study that suggests meat-eating children grow
quicker and are more intelligent than their vegan peers. Professor
Lindsay Allen believes "it is unethical" to withhold animal-based
foods in such groups, a conclusion that many of Britain's three
million vegetarians will find hard to swallow.

At first glance, Allen's findings do seem worrying, but scratch the
surface and her conclusions appear to be built on shaky foundations.

Her research was carried out on 544 African schoolchildren whose vegan
diets consisted of little more than starchy maize and bean-based foods
- a much poorer quality diet than one would expect to find among even
the strictest vegans in the UK.